Grounded by Covid, EAA looks to take flight again in summer of 2021

Every summer, roughly 100,000 tourists and pilots alike jet into Oshkosh for AirVenture, an event hosted by the Experimental Aircraft Association. EAA, a destination that brings in loads of revenue for Oshkosh, was erased economically and aeronautically by Covid-19, leaving a financial crater in not only Oshkosh, but also in the entire state.

According to Dick Knapinski, EAA director of communications, the annual event has a global reach.

 “EAA is a membership organization, which is worldwide, and we have about 240,000 members in more than 100 countries,” he said. “We also have about 900 local chapters, mostly in the U.S., and the people who belong to EAA are people who enjoy recreational flying: flying for fun.”

This summer, those thousands of people were out of luck as EAA was cancelled due to the raging pandemic. But tourists weren’t the ones who experienced turbulence because of this. Co-chair of museum admissions, Dave Jennen, has seen firsthand how the cancellation of this event negatively affected businesses who counted on EAA.

“We’ve met a lot of local businesses there who say that what happens the week of AirVenture makes or breaks their business for the year,” he said. 

The effects of EAA’s cancellation are found throughout the entire community, having an especially dramatic effect on small businesses.

“When you start talking about having a worldwide organization based in Oshkosh with a very public profile, it brings unique visibility to the community,” Knapinski said. “There is easily over $10 million in annual payroll that goes back into the community. People buy houses and groceries with that money.”

When an annual multi-million dollar business is forced to cancel, figuring out how to navigate the crisis can get complicated very quickly. 

“It’s changed a lot of things and I’m sure there are a lot of people in the community who have felt it,” Jennen said. “I think we’re going to be very lean the rest of this year. Every business in Oshkosh is going to be lean.”

Thousands of people have had significant losses because of the cancellation. David Staerkel, an annual employee, has spoken to some vendors personally and knows how much they count on EAA for their business.

“For many vendors, EAA week is their most profitable week of the year with the thousands of folks that look at their stuff,” he said.

One specific type of business greatly affected by the cancellation of EAA was hotels and rooming houses. Since so many people spend the week of EAA in Oshkosh, there was a significant loss of hospitality income.

“With hotels, their business was just gutted,” he said. “Not just from AirVenture but from everything, they were running at 10-15% capacity. Then you take away AirVenture week, which is a huge income week not only for the hotels, but also for the promotion through the convention and visitors bureau. The room tax from the hotels helped finance the promotion of Oshkosh throughout the year.” EAA tried to mitigate the economic damage ahead of time, according to Knapinski. 

“One of the reasons we announced the cancellation so early was to let people know so that they wouldn’t start to make investments and get ready for AirVenture and then be told in the middle of July that it’s not there,” he said.

This was a difficult fact to accept for EAA employees. 

“We had our schedules set and people ready to go to work but then they cancelled the airshow, so that was it,” Jennen said. 

French teacher and longtime resident Kirstin Thompson has witnessed the popularity, and profit,  EAA brings to Oshkosh every year.

“I’ve lived in Oshkosh for 20 years and I’ve seen the thousands of people who come to town every summer,” she said. “The amount of money that vendors could make in eight days was just insane. And to have that taken away, I can’t imagine.” 

With AirVenture unable to happen this year, a butterfly effect rippled through Oshkosh. 

“You lose income from companies that you may not think about, the caterers, the people who do landscaping, or the mom and pop shops that may help out a certain exhibit here,” Knapinski said. 

Thompson acknowledges other businesses that use the EAA area to promote their events as well. 

“People should realize too, people use the EAA grounds for other events,” she said. “It’s not just the air show. Last summer there was a religious group that had a huge campout there, and Ducks Unlimited sometimes used the EAA campground. It’s not just affecting EAA, money from them leasing the grounds also was lost.”

Knapinski thinks that the lack of open publicity and advertisement is also a big let down and a huge loss for EAA. 

“We had more than 900 reporters that come here each year for it and they come from all over the world,” he said. “When you go to any pilot around the world and say Oshkosh, they know what you’re talking about. That is something you can’t buy.”

During a normal year, the popularity that EAA brings Oshkosh attracts businesses and tourists alike wandering the fields of EAA and contributing to the economy.

 “To have someone know where you are and that you’re known for is something is a great entrée for looking locally to prompt businesses to come here,” Knapinski said. “It’s just part of the quality of life we have here in Oshkosh as part of the events each year.”

EAA’s cancellation also affected the large number of Oshkosh residents who rent out their homes during the week of AirVenture. 

“I’ve rented out my house for people coming to EAA, and I know there’s a lot of people in Oshkosh who do that,” Thompson said.

On the bright side, word on the runway is that EAA will not be cancelled in 2021, and the EAA staff, including Knapinski, have already started preparing.

“That will be the step towards rebuilding,” he said. “When you refine or rework the rest of the year, that’s what you’re going to work with.”

Senior Ryan Elliot also had concerns regarding the cancellation and continuation of EAA. 

“Not having AirVenture this year has put EAA in a tough financial situation, so it is really pretty critical that it can happen for 2021,” he said.

Luckily, EAA had a back-up plan in place for tough and unknown future situations.

“The association has had some very good years, so we’ve taken part of that money and put it in a reserve so we could have funds in case something like this happened,” Knapinski said. “It was literally a rainy day fund which turned into the COVID-19 fund, so nobody was laid off here.”

Even with the current hard times, Knapinski stays hopeful for the future. 

“Every year the idea is to make EAA bigger and better, and get more people to come in. Hopefully, this will all be over and we’ll be able to have a good show again,” he said.

Local students also are optimistic about the future of EAA 2021. 

“I’d really have to see all the conditions and how things are with the coronavirus and cases,” Kelley said. “But if it’s cleared up for the most part, I’d probably go.”

Elliot is very confident in his choice to support one of his favorite events of the summer. 

“I will without a doubt or hesitation attend and volunteer next year,” he said.

Even with the social drawbacks, students stand strong with the EAA’s choice to cancel AirVenture 2020. 

“I do feel it was not only the right choice to cancel this year, but the only choice,” Elliot said. 

Dave Jennen emphasizes the connections people make through EAA. 

“We’ve had people we’ve met from all over the world because of AirVenture,” he said. “My wife and daughter have people on Facebook from a number of different countries that they’re met and they communicate with.”

Kelley can relate to Jennen’s cultural viewpoint, and remembers the variety of people she’s come across during her time at EAA.

“I think the best part of EAA is meeting people from all over the world and just being out there on the grounds for a week, just experiencing and working for something that I’ve never really had before,” she said. 

Jennen will definitely miss seeing all of the people and vendors at the festival. 

“The people that we work with there, some of them we’ve worked with for over 20 years,” he said. “They’re people that we see every year for once a week and it’s kind of like a family reunion every year.” 

Thompson has enjoyed seeing the younger generation adopt a passion of hers. 

“I think volunteering was cool because I was in the kid part every day and I got to see kids interested in aviation,” she said.

Despite the continuing effects of cancelling this event which brings so much revenue and tourists to Oshkosh, Knapinski is determined to push forward and make EAA the best it possibly can be next year.

“It’s a different world that we have to contend with, but we are going to continue to make EAA the world-class event it’s always been,” he said.

By Hannah Chung, Abby Furcy, and Emery Oliphat-Buchta